LA Lakers Rumors: Greg Monroe, Rajon Rondo Options For Kobe Bryant If Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash Trades This Season?

The LA Lakers are going to be spenders next summer in free agency and names like Greg Monroe, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio, Marc Gasol or LaMarcus Aldridge could be targets for Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles, as they will have money to spend and this season the team may look at trade deals with Jeremy Lin or Steve Nash, as they are on expiring deals and could be attractive to other teams.

The Lakers come into the season after one of their worst campaigns and now they have Byron Scott in the fold to help instill a new attitude for the franchise. Bryant is coming back healthy after a long year of injuries and the team is looking for him to stay on the court all season. The Lakers will not be a great team, but they can compete in the bottom of the west with the talent they have and it likely will depend on how much Bryant plays.

The Lakers plan was to go after Kevin Love next summer when he opted out of his deal, but now that he is in Cleveland that won't be happening. Love would have been the top target on the market for teams, but he is in Cleveland and now Rondo, Monroe and Aldridge along with Gasol and some other players will be the prime options. The Lakers knew that they would have the chance to spend in 2015 with money coming off the books and that is why they were careful about signing any other players long term.

Bryant coming back healthy is huge and even if the team doesn't end up trading him, having Nash back healthy will be big for the team too. Adding Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer in the offseason helps with the overall depth of the team and the Lakers also kept Nick Young, Ryan Kelly, Xavier Henry, Jordan Hill and Wesley Johnson.